The invention relates to a baler for compressing agricultural crop into bales. Balers are commonly found in substantially two designs, i.e., round balers and block balers. In round balers, continuously supplied crop is rolled up in a bale chamber to form a cylindrical bale and is compressed by the pressure of externally circulating belts. Block balers comprise a bale chamber in the form of an elongated channel, in which a baling ram is moved back and forth in order to press crop (which is fed in batches), onto a cuboid bale being formed. In both types of balers, once the bale has reached a desired target size, the bale must be stabilized by being wrapped with binding material (which is usually twine), in order to prevent the bale from falling apart after ejection from the bale chamber.
To ensure that harvesting proceeds rapidly and cost-effectively, all the twine required for a harvesting operation should be carried with the baler as the stockpile. Document WO 2007/136410 A2 makes known a block baler that carries the twine stockpile thereof in magazines disposed next to the pressing channel. The magazines each comprise a bottom plate, on which the twine rolls are located. The bottom plate is folded in the manner of an accordion in the longitudinal direction of the press and slanting downward to a side wall adjoining the pressing channel. The axes of the twine rolls each extend parallel to the folds of the bottom plate, in the transverse direction of the pressing channel. In this manner, the twine rolls are secured against sliding or rolling away during the harvesting operation.
To permit uninterrupted operation, the twine rolls must be connected to one another so that, as soon as one roll has been used up, the beginning of the next roll is drawn into the pressing channel. Errors that occur in the interconnection of the twine rolls can cause the twine to become stuck, and an operator must access the twine magazine and eliminate a knot that formed there before the harvesting operation can continue.
WO 2007/136410 A2 shows, in FIG. 4, a twine store having 15 twine rolls in three magazines. The twine rolls are interconnected across magazines via two or three rolls each to form six strands. Since a mirror-image, second twine store is provided on the other side of the baler, it is assumed that the twelve twine strands in all are provided to be tied around each bale in pairs, forming six loops. If the twine is not used up completely in a harvesting operation, twelve partially-used twine rolls remain, which the user must relocate in order to reload the device and connect the twine rolls in the pattern shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the user must refill the emptied compartments and connect the beginnings of the twine rolls loaded there to the ends of the partially-used twine rolls. The resultant criss-crossing paths of the twine strands to the knotters of the pressing channel, however, considerably increase the risk that the twine strands will become tangled in the storage area and that the supply of twine to the knotters will become disrupted.
The number of partially-used twine rolls that remains after a harvesting operation could be reduced by replacing the use of a double knotter. A double knotter connects two separately fed twine strands to form a loop, with the use of a single knotter, which is described in DE 10 2007 018 560 A1. The single knotter knots a single twine strand wrapped around the bale to form a loop. In order to supply such a single knotter, however, more than the two or three twine rolls shown in the aforementioned FIG. 4 would have to be interconnected. Hence, the problem remains that, during reloading, the twine rolls that are still present must be relocated, or the possibility of tangling occurring must be accepted.